Financial Management (UK) articles from October 2002

Financial Management (UK) archives from October 2002

Editorial comment.
October 1, 2002... There's nothing new about social and environmental reformers campaigning for big business to show a more caring side. For every Dickensian Scrooge or Bounderby who loomed large in Victorian industrial mythology, there were real people like...

Government expands on review. (Technical Update).
October 1, 2002... The secretary of state for trade and industry, Patricia Hewitt, hase government's review of the regulation of the audit and accounting professions. The review is a response to the corporate failures of Enron and WorldCom in the US. It will...

DTI considers wider use of IASs. (Technical Update).
October 1, 2002... The Department of Trade and Industry is to consult on whether the use of international accounting standards should be made more widespread in the UK. New regulations will require listed companies in the European Union to work to...

Apathy rules as green law looms: directors are unwilling to back their rhetoric with action. (Environmental Reporting).
October 1, 2002... Business leaders claim to care about the environment, yet are unprepared to act against suppliers that damage it, according to a survey by environmental rating company Trucost. But continued indifference could cost them if a proposed new law is...

Big business weighs in to fight Aids pandemic. (News Round-Up).
October 1, 2002... Gold-mining company Anglo American has become the latest multinational business operating in southern Africa to offer free anti-Aids drugs to HIV-positive workers. The move follows similar initiatives by diamond producer De Beers and...

Firms hit by apartheid charge: respondents to a US lawsuit face a huge damages claim. (Business Ethic).
October 1, 2002... More than 30 multinational companies that are alleged to have done business with the former apartheid government of South Africa are being sued for billions of dollars in the US. The class action is being led by US lawyer Edward Fagan, who...

How to: get started in corporate social responsibility. (News Round-Up).
October 1, 2002... * Assign responsibility, and incorporate a structure, for reporting to senior management or board level. * Conduct a baseline CSR review and produce a gap analysis. * Review shareholders' and customers' perspectives and expectations....

FM's bumper Christmas issue. (News Round-Up).
October 1, 2002... As part of CIMA's ongoing drive to give members the most relevant information at the most useful times, the December 2002 and January 2003 editions of Financial Management are to be combined into a double issue, which will be published at the...

Public image unlimited. (News Round-Up).
October 1, 2002... Two-thirds of UK boards monitor the effectiveness of their corporate reputation management, according to a survey of 800 CEOs in Europe and North America. The survey, by PR company Hill & Knowlton, found found that senior executives ranked...

UN questions IASB's greenness. (News Round-Up).
October 1, 2002... The United Nations has censured the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) for neglecting environmental reporting and sustainable development. A report by the UN into the role accountants must play to preserve the environment accuses...

Minister backs CIMA guide. (News Round-Up).
October 1, 2002... Michael Meacher, minister of state for the environment, has written the foreword to a new CIMA book entitled Environmental Cost Accounting. See "Clean sheet" (page 18) for ordering information.

CIMA's annual conference will see the launch of Comshare MPC 5.0. Enhancements include extended "journaling" intelligence and new account intelligence. (Exhibitor Round-Up).
October 1, 2002... CIMA's annual conference will see the launch of Comshare MPC 5.0. Enhancements include extended "journaling" intelligence and new account intelligence. The corporate performance management software integrates planning, budgeting, forecasting,...

Procurement specialist the Aria Group is offering a means for visitors to benchmark their companies against the best in purchasing, and will be exhibiting licensing details at the event. (Exhibitor Round-Up).
October 1, 2002... Procurement specialist the Aria Group is offering a means for visitors to benchmark their companies against the best in purchasing, and will be exhibiting licensing details at the event. The standard recognises three levels of achievement, the...

Marsh UK will be hosting a pre-conference "Risk clinic" at the Victoria Park Plaza from 7pm on Monday 11 November. (Exhibitor Round-Up).
October 1, 2002... Marsh UK will be hosting a pre-conference "Risk clinic" at the Victoria Park Plaza from 7pm on Monday 11 November. The event is free for delegates to attend. Visit www.cimaevent.com/ middle_c_marshuk.htm for details.

The financial intelligence test: David Phillips believes firms are fixated on the wrong data. (Speaker Profiles).
October 1, 2002... Most businesses fail to put enough effort into collecting and communicating information. Although they see it as a cost and a chore, it is in fact a value-creating activity. But the risk, if companies fail to specify what needs to be passed on...

Further conference highlights. (The CIMA Annual Conference 2002: 12-13 November, Victoria Park Plaza, London SW1V 1EQ).
October 1, 2002... * Richard Bowker ACMA, chairman and chief executive of the Strategic Rail Authority, will talk about risk management and the role of the finance professional. * Two case studies on risk management will be provided by James Duckworth, chief...

Why FRS17 will be no `big bang'. (The CIMA Annual Conference 2002: 12-13 November, Victoria Park Plaza, London SW1V 1EQ).
October 1, 2002... It is "illusory" to say that FRS17 will have a huge impact on companies and on how fund managers think about them, Brian St John-Hall will tell delegates at CIMA's annual conference. According to St John-Hall, an investment expert at Bacon...

Working up an appetite for risk. (The CIMA Annual Conference 2002: 12-13 November, Victoria Park Plaza, London SW1V 1EQ).
October 1, 2002... Many companies are merely paying lip service to the Turnbull report's requirement to embed risk into their organisations, Tim Astley, vice-president and principal consultant at Zurich I[C.sub.2] will tell delegates. He will argue that this...

PS Financials has chosen Britannia Software's fixed-asset management modules to integrate with its financial accounting and business management software aimed at mid-market organisations across a range of industries. (Exhibitor Round-Up).
October 1, 2002... PS Financials has chosen Britannia Software's fixed-asset management modules to integrate with its financial accounting and business management software aimed at mid-market organisations across a range of industries. It will be demonstrating...

Access Accounting will be demonstrating DimensionsLite, the only business and accounts solution based on the Microsoft Data Engine available in the UK today. (Exhibitor Round-Up).
October 1, 2002... Access Accounting will be demonstrating DimensionsLite, the only business and accounts solution based on the Microsoft Data Engine available in the UK today. The database is a cut-down version of SQL Server, but with three main differences. It...

Cartesis will be promoting its two key financial analytics software products at this year's event. (Exhibitor Round-Up).
October 1, 2002... Cartesis will be promoting its two key financial analytics software products at this year's event. The Cartesis Magnitude is an integrated web-based solution for strategic financial management, which is designed to streamline reporting and aid...

Kalamazoo Security Print will be showing off a new integrated system designed to streamline the cheque-issuing process. (Exhibitor Round-Up).
October 1, 2002... Kalamazoo Security Print will be showing off a new integrated system designed to streamline the cheque-issuing process. Cheqflow Laser Secure allows firms to create cheques with signatures, logos, complex graphics and magnetic ink character...

A vision for provision. (Letters).
October 1, 2002... Alan Orme blames FRS17 for the demise of final-salary pension schemes, and then criticises the public sector for retaining them (Letters, September). Nonsense! The spurious reasons for threatening final-salary schemes are the end of the...

Public knowledge. (Letters).
October 1, 2002... David Allen's topical articles never cease to arouse comment. "False economy" (June) was yet another warning of an impending private-sector pensions funding disaster. But why does Alan Orme take this out on the public sector? The term...

Health cares. (Letters).
October 1, 2002... Giving the NHS the biggest spending increase in its history is not the right way to go about improving the service. If history repeats itself, this money will sink into the sand with little or no benefit to patients. In 19891 had heart...

Optional extras. (Letters).
October 1, 2002... The debate about pricing stock options continues. While it is a good idea to expense stock options so that the true costs of commitments are charged to the business, the methodology of pricing stock options can be tricky and each company has...

Cartesis[R]: you may be aware of the imminent transition to international accounting standards (IAS), but do you understand its implications for your systems? Nick Forman answers your queries. (Questions & Answers).
October 1, 2002... Why should adopting IAS make me think about my firm's financial systems? On 7 June the EU adopted a regulation that requires all listed European companies to prepare their consolidated accounts for financial years commencing on or after 1...

Beware the flat spot: if your business enjoys a prolonged period of rapid growth, it can take a frustratingly long time for the accounts to reflect it positively. David Allen advises on how to approach such a situation. (Management).
October 1, 2002... One of the more obvious consequences of the rapid rate of evolution characterising today's business environment is the extent of structural change occurring in the economy. Understandably, in view of the human costs involved, media coverage is...

Green signals `go': increasing numbers of firms are producing CSR reports. Transparency is good news, but it must be as well as, not instead of, fundamental changes to business processes. (Reporting).
October 1, 2002... Sustainable development has crept up the corporate agenda in the past few years. An issue that was still a marginal concern when the Body Shop became a public company in 1985, it now claims a place in boardrooms around the country. This surge...

Automatic responses: as firms spend more on IT, they expect it to achieve more. Michael Douglas argues it's the people, not the technology, who determine the success of a change management strategy. (People Management).
October 1, 2002... Thomas Carlyle, in his essay "Signs of the times" on the industrial revolution and its aftermath, famously described the 19th century as the "age of machinery". Carlyle died in 1881, but his description is even more appropriate for the 20th...

How to be good: the Enron and WorldCom affairs have led to a resurgence of investor interest in corporate social responsibility. Cathy Hayward finds out where the UK stands on the issue of mandatory versus voluntary reporting on CSR. (Cover Feature CSR).
October 1, 2002... The global investment community is becoming increasingly aware, in the light of Enron and WorldCom, that under-disclosure can have a huge impact on profits and stock values. There is also a growing recognition that environmental factors create...

Clean sheet: why would a company want to go to all the trouble of producing external environmental cost accounts? Rupert Howes states the business case and explains the basic method. (How To Environmental Accounting).
October 1, 2002... In 1998-99 CIMA funded a research project entitled "Accounting for environmentally sustainable profits". This investigated how businesses could develop more complete accounting systems that acknowledged the most significant environmental...

Double measure: when Scottish Courage Brewing tried to graft a new system for activity-based budgeting on to its existing one for activity-based costing, it ran into problems and was forced to suspend the project. But the company did gain invaluable insights in the process. (Finance Activity-Based Budgeting).
October 1, 2002... While many case studies of activity-based costing (ABC) implementation exist, comparatively few are available on activity-based budgeting (ABB) systems. As their names indicate, ABC and ABB are linked, but can the two processes be built into...

Giveaway signs: there are two key questions that CFOs should consider when deciding whether or not to outsource the treasury function: what is the cost/ benefit relationship and what are the risks? Peter Nolan weighs up the options. (Finance Treasury).
October 1, 2002... A lack of debt funding or poor funding relationships can stifle business growth. Disastrous and potentially fatal losses can result from unauthorised foreign exchange dealing, poor risk controls or investments in non-investment-grade...

Caveat vendor: western multinationals have been scrambling to exploit the huge potential of the emerging economies in the developing world. Anita Allott describes the pitfalls awaiting those that fail to tailor their marketing to consumer needs in these new territories. (Business Marketing Strategy).
October 1, 2002... Lured by the prospect of billions of sales in the marketplace of the global village, multinational companies are rushing to place their brands in developing countries. There are many opportunities and threats associated with emerging markets,...

Benevolent fund appeal. (Institute News).
October 1, 2002... CIMA members have contributed generously to the institute's benevolent fund so far this year (9,000 [pounds sterling] to July). Your contributions are vital in helping others in times of need. This year the committee has been able to provide...

Geoffrey Pierce 1912-2002. (Institute News).
October 1, 2002... The institute regrets to announce the death last month of Geoffrey Pierce FCMA, who was a member of the Bristol Branch for over 60 years. He held the roles of branch president, secretary and treasurer many times and was awarded the CIMA silver...

CIMA relaunches its advisory service. (Institute News).
October 1, 2002... In response to members' and students' increasing demands for information, CIMA is relaunching its current advisory service. Formerly known as the Technical Advisory Service (TAS), it will now be the Technical Information Service (TIS). A...

Byrne addresses change at Malaysian conference. (Institute News).
October 1, 2002... There are many "macro drivers" of change that accountants ought to be aware of, CIMA's president told delegates at the institute's recent management accounting conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Harry Byrne said that these drivers...